Ohio Supreme Court Holds Swearing-in Ceremony for Justice DeWine

Hundreds of guests watched as Justice Pat DeWine took his oath of office on Feb. 9 from Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor during a Courtroom ceremony in the Moyer Judicial Center. Also pictured are Justice DeWine’s wife Rhonda and their children.

Hundreds of guests watched as Justice Pat DeWine took his oath of office on Feb. 9 from Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor during a Courtroom ceremony in the Moyer Judicial Center. Also pictured are Justice DeWine’s wife Rhonda and their children.

During a Feb. 9 Courtroom ceremony filled with family and friends, R. Patrick DeWine, the 158th Justice of Ohio Supreme Court, took his ceremonial oath of office.

Justice DeWine won election in November to an open seat on the Supreme Court and began his six-year term on Jan. 2. His judicial experience includes nearly four years on the First District Court of Appeals and four years on the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor administered the oath.

Justice DeWine thanked his family, mentors, and colleagues and “virtually everyone” in the room for helping him along the way over the two years he campaigned for the Supreme Court.

Of his travels to all 88 counties, Justice DeWine said he realized the wisdom of making judges directly accountable to the voters and that he “learned a great deal about Ohio, and I think it really has made me a better judge.”

Justice DeWine also pledged to keep restraint and independence at the center of his decision-making, as called for by the framers of the Constitution.

“They understood that our freedoms would be guaranteed not by any single branch of government, but by the whole of our system, by the branches working sometimes together but also sometimes in tension with each other,” he said. “For that system to work, our judiciary must be independent, but at the same time, the great powers that our courts are vested with compel that we always exercise restraint.”

Among the speakers on the program were Justice DeWine’s father, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. He said that Justice DeWine learned the value of hard work from his grandparents, and he applied those lessons to distance running, serving his community, and campaigning.

“Pat once said that the best compliment my father could give me would be to say, ‘Pat does what he thinks is right.’ That is the highest praise he has for people,” Attorney General DeWine said. “Well, Patrick, I know you do what you think is right. And we know you will continue to do that as a member, as a Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. You worked exceedingly hard for this. You earned this. And your mother and I could not be any more proud of you than we are today.”

Judge Michael R. Barrett of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio served as emcee. Ohio Judicial Conference Executive Director and former Supreme Court Justice Paul E. Pfeifer, whose seat Justice DeWine took, also spoke.